Define Alienated Labour.

Alienated labor, a concept central to Karl Marx's critique of capitalism, refers to the condition in which workers experience a profound sense of estrangement, detachment, and disconnection in their relationship with the labor process, the product of their labor, and the overall social context.

Marx identified several dimensions of alienation:

1. Alienation from the Product:
   Workers in a capitalist system often have little control or ownership over the goods or services they produce. The products of their labor become commodities controlled by employers or capitalists. This lack of ownership leads to a sense of alienation from the fruits of their labor.

2. Alienation in the Labor Process:
   Capitalist production is characterized by a division of labor where workers perform specialized, repetitive tasks. This specialization can lead to a sense of monotony and dehumanization, as workers become mere appendages of the production process, losing a connection to the broader skills involved in the final product.

3. Alienation from Human Potential:
   Marx argued that alienated labor degrades the worker's creative and productive capacities. The worker is reduced to a means of production, deprived of the opportunity to express and develop their full human potential within the constraints of the capitalist system.

4. Alienation in Social Relations:
   The competitive nature of capitalism fosters a sense of isolation among workers. The relationships between individuals become instrumental and transactional rather than cooperative and communal, contributing to a broader sense of social alienation.

Marx believed that overcoming alienated labor required a fundamental transformation of the economic and social structures, where workers would have greater control over the means of production and a more direct connection to the products of their labor, fostering a more harmonious and fulfilling relationship with work and society.